Well, if he'd stop trying to tear out my goddamn bedroom wall and stop fighting with every other single living creature (including 3 week old kittens) (he weighs 85 pounds) then his ass wouldn't be in a fenced off sectio by himself.

I had an uncle who left his one dog outside ALL the time. Like it was never even allowed to come in the house. They lived on a hill and it got DAMNED cold and windy in the winter. Poor guy only had his crummy dog house to shelter him. This made him mean as f*ck. The only person that could go near him was my uncle and even then he got bit from time to time (which led to the dog getting beat). Sadly this doesn't seem to be all that uncommon in the rural areas around here.

Oh and their other dog was a little asshole shiatzu that got treated like a baby. It was one of the greasiest most disgusting miserable little beasts I've ever had the misfortune of having to pat. It's skin was all f*cked up so it was covered in oozing scabby bald spots and your hand would stink after you touched it. If you didn't pet it it would bite you and my aunt would flip out like you were abusing it. Very strange people.

here to help:Oh and their other dog was a little asshole shiatzu that got treated like a baby. It was one of the greasiest most disgusting miserable little beasts I've ever had the misfortune of having to pat. It's skin was all f*cked up so it was covered in oozing scabby bald spots and your hand would stink after you touched it. If you didn't pet it it would bite you and my aunt would flip out like you were abusing it. Very strange people.

That's why I have 2 dogs. If they get depressed when the wife and I are gone (which obviously I can't prove or disprove, what with not being there) at least they have each other. And they get along well with each other, and one of the cats.

here to help:I had an uncle who left his one dog outside ALL the time. Like it was never even allowed to come in the house. They lived on a hill and it got DAMNED cold and windy in the winter.

I have a neighbor who does the same thing with his shepherd. Dog is always outside, seldom spends anytime with the family.What part of pack animal don't people understand?

Meh. People kept insisting I was trolling or lying so I decided to let you all wallow in your own filth (not you specifically... you're cool). However I'm not sure how that story has anything to do with it. That was how things were at their house. The uncle's dead now. Miserable old bastard.

Last dog we had was a boston terrier, and let me tell you that dog was retarded on levels I can't even begin to describe. And high strung like a mother farker. Seriously this dog was like Corky on Meth.

my mom has 4 dogs--3 boxers and a spastic, retarded, sweet, perpetually happy french pointer. they are all spoiled rotten in the best way.

sadly, Rudy, the oldest boxer at 12 years old, is on his last legs....he has been on a steady decline for the past few weeks and it looks like my mom is going to have to make a very difficult decision this week. i was at my moms for the past 2 weeks but today i needed to leave for a few days...i am hoping he can hold on until i get back there wednesday--i don't want my mom to have to go through it alone.

i am wondering what the effect will be on the rest of the pack...doggie depression can't be limited to just being left alone all day....

We currently have 12 Huskies. All rescues. They probably have been depressed at one point or another in their previous lives, but I'm guessing not around here. Know what you're getting into when you get a dog or two, and choose the breed that works best for your lifestyle, not for your facebook profile pic....and yes, we do have the space (20 acres), time (both of us work from home) and means to take care of them.

KidneyStone:My screwed up pooch lived in two abusive homes before I got her. She's very happy now.

Mine too, at least two abusive homes we know of. She is mostly happy, but she gets depressed from time to time for no reason. Like, she'll be rolling on her back and snorting and happy, and we're kissing her belly and she is chewing her toys and everything...then suddenly she'll bolt upright and get all serious and totally withdraw for hours and appear be in deep thought. Nothing we do brings her out of it, we just wait until she's ready to be a silly carefree dog again.

here to help:I had an uncle who left his one dog outside ALL the time. Like it was never even allowed to come in the house. They lived on a hill and it got DAMNED cold and windy in the winter. Poor guy only had his crummy dog house to shelter him. This made him mean as f*ck. The only person that could go near him was my uncle and even then he got bit from time to time (which led to the dog getting beat). Sadly this doesn't seem to be all that uncommon in the rural areas around here.

I work from home and my dog naps on the couch all day, but we don't live in UK so maybe dog depression hasn't spread here yet. Blue squeaky bones seem to help my dog's happiness immensely, you guys should try those. Maybe we can ship some over.

No... he really really was an awful person. Why my aunt put up with his sh*t for so long mystified everyone. She did eventually give him the boot. He ended up living in a rooming house type deal and hung out with some crackhead woman who would beat him up and steal his pension money but he kept hanging out with her. My aunt tried to help him by getting the cops involved but because he insisted on hanging out with her there was nothing they could do. It was almost sad in a way... almost.

here to help:I had an uncle who left his one dog outside ALL the time. Like it was never even allowed to come in the house. They lived on a hill and it got DAMNED cold and windy in the winter. Poor guy only had his crummy dog house to shelter him. This made him mean as f*ck. The only person that could go near him was my uncle and even then he got bit from time to time (which led to the dog getting beat). Sadly this doesn't seem to be all that uncommon in the rural areas around here.

WTF is wrong with people?

We had "outdoor only" cats growing up owing to Dad's severe allergies, But given we had a huge toolshed for them to shelter in, and the fact that the one year it got exceptionally cold we caught my dad builiding a heated cat house out of an old sytrofoam cooler and a heating pad, we didn;t worry too much about the kitties feeling neglected...But you also have to remember in rural areas dogs are foten not "pets" so much as working animals, and so tend to get treated like the rest of the livestock.

SurelyShirley:We currently have 12 Huskies. All rescues. They probably have been depressed at one point or another in their previous lives, but I'm guessing not around here. Know what you're getting into when you get a dog or two, and choose the breed that works best for your lifestyle, not for your facebook profile pic....and yes, we do have the space (20 acres), time (both of us work from home) and means to take care of them.

Maybe you're the right person to ask this to. T'other day I saw a couple walking a dog that LOOKED like a perfect husky in shape and coloring, but was fricking HUGE, literally double every dimension on a typical husky, height, width, weight etc and you had this dog. Any idea WTF I was looking at?

We have two greyhounds. Why? when a dog spends all of its time with 200 other dogs in kennels locked up for 22 hours a day, you don't only have one otherwise you can never leave the house. Serious separation anxiety. We haven't experienced any of the issues others have with only one.Also want to stop a dog from misbehaving? Exercise them, you would be surprised how much of their behaviour is based on too much energy not being used.

One of our dogs, Mustang, suffers from severe separation anxiety. He just cannot handle it when most or all of us leave the house, even when it's just a trip to the grocery store. He's a Toy Fox Terrier/Chihuahua mix and is high strung to begin with. For the first week that the kid was back at school, he cried and "trilled" all day. 8 hours of sadness from him, poor guy. I couldn't comfort him because he would've continued on even longer than a week if I had (I'm only home due to being unemployed ATM). He adjusts to situations eventually, but it's so hard when he goes thru this from time to time. Onyx, the boxer/cocker spaniel mix, on the other hand, didn't give a rodents' fuzzy behind that someone was missing from the house. She just took a nap most of the day and was happy to see people as they came home, so she's able to roll with the punches, it seems.

Magorn:SurelyShirley: We currently have 12 Huskies. All rescues. They probably have been depressed at one point or another in their previous lives, but I'm guessing not around here. Know what you're getting into when you get a dog or two, and choose the breed that works best for your lifestyle, not for your facebook profile pic....and yes, we do have the space (20 acres), time (both of us work from home) and means to take care of them.

Maybe you're the right person to ask this to. T'other day I saw a couple walking a dog that LOOKED like a perfect husky in shape and coloring, but was fricking HUGE, literally double every dimension on a typical husky, height, width, weight etc and you had this dog. Any idea WTF I was looking at?

Psylence:Magorn: SurelyShirley: We currently have 12 Huskies. All rescues. They probably have been depressed at one point or another in their previous lives, but I'm guessing not around here. Know what you're getting into when you get a dog or two, and choose the breed that works best for your lifestyle, not for your facebook profile pic....and yes, we do have the space (20 acres), time (both of us work from home) and means to take care of them.

Maybe you're the right person to ask this to. T'other day I saw a couple walking a dog that LOOKED like a perfect husky in shape and coloring, but was fricking HUGE, literally double every dimension on a typical husky, height, width, weight etc and you had this dog. Any idea WTF I was looking at?

Sounds like a Malamute or possibly a Malamute/wolf hybrid.

I've got the same deal with my English Springer Spaniel. Perfect markings, flanges and crest, just twice as large as an ESS is supposed. to be. Groomer suggests some Lab in his background. (It's good for breeders to add some fresh genes to a breed every now and then).